Let's Go Home
by babybasschick96
Summary: Tim has a bad day, and Kon helps him through it. TimKon, Timothy Drake/Kon-El (slight JayDick, if you squint). Slight AU.


**I own nothing. Thank you for your time!**

It wasn't really fair to say that Tim was having a bad day. It wasn't like he was walking around yelling at anybody or off of his game like most people were when they had bad days. He was just…kind of… _quiet_. Tim wasn't overly out going on the best of days, but he was always cordial and polite, and that day—that day, he just…wasn't.

Take for example, instead of playing mediator in the current heated discussion between the bats and the rest of the League, he was just sitting up on a high table off to the side, eyes cast down to the floor as his fingers twisted absently in his lap and his feet swung lightly through the air every couple of minutes.

Everybody had noticed that he was kind of off—or at least the bats had—but they were all too caught up in their own thoughts and responsibilities for the mission throughout the day to put too much thought into it.

Kon had noticed, too—had noticed something was off from the second Tim had shaken him awake in his room at the Manor that morning, already decked out in his Red Robin regalia, and then left without saying anything other than they were expected at the Watchtower in ten minutes. Kon had continued to notice the subtle (and not so subtle) changes every time Tim was within seeing or hearing distance, and the Kryptonian wasn't very happy about it.

Tim had continued to stay quiet all throughout the day, barely talking or responding to any stimuli around him other than when he or somebody else was in immediate danger.

If Kon were being honest with himself, it scared him when Tim got like this, but he also knew that Tim had been through more than the rest of the bats had (excepting maybe Dick), more than the rest of the League combined, certainly more than Kon himself had, and that the least the man deserved was a couple of days off here and there to just _feel_ all of the things that he had been subjected to over the years.

Kon had barely been paying attention to the meeting going on around him to start with, and it had only gotten worse the more the conversation deteriorated from an informative debrief to an argument between various members of the League. Kon had lost track of the fighting around an hour or so into it and instead had focused on watching Tim from across the room.

He was sitting up on one of the high tables off to the side, eyes cast down to the floor as his fingers twisted absently in his lap, and his feet swung lightly through the air every couple of minutes. The sight grated on Kon's nerve's just as much as anything else that day had because Tim should have been over by the computers, typing away or mediating between his family and everybody else, and Kon should have been the one off to the sides, generally ignored by the rest of the League until something needed to be punched. Not the other way around, like they were now.

Not that Kon wasn't usually paying attention during these meetings. He always paid attention during these meetings, if only more for Tim's added benefit than his own, sometimes. Kon knew he wasn't always the smartest guy in the room (especially in a room filled with members of the League), but his senses went beyond others, and there were times when he could pick up on things that the bats couldn't. Tim had figured out very early on how advantageous this could be, and Kon had learned after several very disappointed looks from Tim to keep his eyes and ears (and occasionally nose) wide open during these meetings). Even now with how distracted he was, Kon would have been able to repeat the entire conversation word-for-word for Tim or Bruce or Clark if they'd asked.

As it was, Tim had his cowl pushed off, and he hadn't bothered with a domino that morning, but he had his cape pulled up around his shoulders and tucked around his sides like he was trying to hide himself away from the world, and Kon had to admit he was doing a pretty good job of it, so when the yelling had finally reached headache inducing levels (even for Kon) the Kryptonian didn't hesitate to push himself up from table and walk out of the room for a couple of minutes to recollect himself with Wolf at his heels.

Kon sighed and ran a hand through his hair as soon as the door closed behind him and he was engulfed in relative silence (the whir of machines sounded throughout the entire tower without stop, and he could still hear the League's muffled yells from behind him, but that was so normal it was almost like white noise to Kon now). It was glorious after fighting off the alien invasion that morning and the emotional rollercoaster that was not trading sarcastic comments with Tim every five minutes, and he leaned his head against the cool metal wall and just enjoyed it for a moment.

Wolf seemed to agree as he ran his forehead into Kon's hand and whined after a minute, clearly looking up at him like he was asking if they could go home now, and Kon couldn't help but scratch behind his ears and give him a sympathetic smile, "I know, they're loud."

Wolf made a sound that sounded eerily like a noise of agreement (even by Wolf's standards) and closed his eyes as Kon shifted so only the side of his head and his shoulder were rested up against the wall.

"But they mean well."

Wolf jerked back away from Kon's hand with a snort and glared up at him for a moment as if asking, "Really?", before huffing and ducking his back down again so Kon could continue in his ministrations as he chuckled. The two stood there for a couple more minutes, just enjoying the quiet, before Kon sighed and pushed himself up from the wall again.

"Come on, Wolf," he ordered reluctantly. "If I don't get back in there soon, Tim's going to start worrying, and the last thing I want to do right now is stress him out even more."

Wolf's ears perked up at the mention of Tim's name, and the dog's entire body language changed, tensing in panic, as if he'd forgotten about his other master in all of the arguing and the reprieve the quiet had offered a couple of minutes ago.

Wolf had taken to Tim almost as fast as he had to Kon (after Kon and Tim had become friends that is), and Kon had reluctantly come to the realization recently that he was no longer Wolf's favorite anymore (although Kon did have to admit that was probably at least partially his own fault with for much attention and emphasis he lavished on Tim whenever the three of them were alone; realistically speaking, it had only been a matter of time before Wolf had learned that Kon's first and foremost concern was Tim's safety, and therefor made his own first and foremost concern Tim's safety, regardless of the fact that they were both perfectly well aware that Tim could take care of himself (most of the time)).

Kon watched Wolf, slightly amused, as the wolf turned around and practically galloped his way back towards the door in front of Kon, whining and panting back over his shoulder at Kon the whole way, and pawed at the door impatiently when he made it back a couple of seconds before Kon.

"Calm down, boy," Kon couldn't help but chuckle as he got close enough that he could reach out and lay a hand on top of the wolf's head as he reached up with the other to activate the switch for the door. "I'm worried about him, too; but he's going to be okay. He just needs a little bit of time. I promise."

Wolf looked up and whimpered again as the door slid open in front of them, clearly not all that reassured by his master's words, but Kon scratched behind his ears once more as the sounds of the arguing League washed back over them and Wolf's posture eased just the slightest bit again. Once again, Wolf set off into the room ahead of Kon, but this time he walked instead of ran, and he didn't make any noises as he made his way over to Tim (even if he was still panting and glaring over at the League every couple of seconds).

Kon, for his part, hesitated in the doorway for just a second or two, retaking in the scene around him. Almost the entire League was standing up now, standing around the table as they fought over whatever it was that they were fighting over (seriously, Kon didn't even know anymore). Tim was still up on the table where he'd left him and either Kon was going crazy or the man had somehow managed to find a way to make himself look even smaller while Kon had been gone. Tim hadn't paid any attention to Wolf as he'd made his way over, but he had given a small smile and brushed his fingers along the top of Wolf's head and behind his ears before Wolf had settled down on the floor in front of him, much to both Kon and Wolf's delight. Tim hadn't smiled all day (or shown any emotion other than confliction, really), and it eased Kon's soul to know that Tim wasn't so far that he couldn't come out of this whenever he was ready. It would take time, and Kon doubted this was the last time something like this would happen, but Kon didn't mind. He would wait by Tim's side as long as Tim needed him to, and anybody else who felt differently could go jump off a bridge for all that Kon cared.

And so, to Tim's side Kon walked as the door slid back closed behind him. Nobody acknowledged his presence as he walked through the room, and Kon absently thought to himself that they probably hadn't even noticed his absence in the first place as he pushed himself up onto the table beside Tim and turned his attention back towards the room in front of him to try to figure out what he'd missed.

"That's not the point!" Green Arrow yelled as he slammed his hand down on the table.

"Then what is?" Wonder Woman threw her hands up in exasperation.

Every inch of Kon's body was itching for him to reach out to Tim and close the distance between the two of them, but Kon crossed his legs at his ankles and clasped his hands in his lap and forced himself to sit still as he watched Dick try to pacify the budding tension between Green Arrow and Wonder Woman, "Guys, let's focus on the problem here!"

"We're trying to," Clark glared at him from his seat with one eyebrow raised in annoyance. "But you won't let us."

The best thing that Kon could do was wait and let Tim come to him when he was ready.

"Robin was _not_ the problem, Clark," Bruce snapped, flexing his shoulders and biceps even more as he leaned on the table and glared down at Clark. _Great,_ Kon thought to himself. _What are they fighting about now?_ "Aliens feeling as though they can parade onto Earth and kidnap whomever they like for scientific experimentation is the problem."

"He is right, Kal-El," Martian Manhunter added in that ever-calming voice of his. "Young Robin acted completely within his right for the situation he was in."

 _Oh, right_ , Kon thought to himself as the memory from earlier in the day flooded through him. _Four of the aliens got their hands on Damian while the rest of us had been busy and tried to drag him back to their ship to keep him as a prize of their invasion. Damian had been forced to kill three of them in order to get away, while Tim had delivered the fatal blow to the fourth. Nobody had a problem with Tim making the call to take a life because they all trusted his judgment (now that he was back to being sane and all). For some reason, the League felt differently about Damian, regardless of the fact that there was no other way for him to get away._

" _Thank you_ , J'onn," Bruce spared the man a look before he returned to glaring at Clark. "At least somebody is seeing sense."

"If that's what you want to call it," Wonder Woman snorted and once again the attention turned back to her and Green Arrow.

"As if you have nothing to say on the subject of taking lives, Diana," Bruce turned his glare on her and Kon rolled his eyes as he let out a quiet sigh.

"EXCUSE ME?" Wonder Woman shrieked in response, but Kon didn't hear what happened next. He was too busy focusing on the warm brush of Tim's arm against his.

Kon knew that Tim was moving subconsciously, closing the distance between the two of them without even thinking about it, but that didn't stop Kon from pressing back against him or snapping his head around to look down at him.

"Hi," Tim said quietly, still not looking up from the floor.

"Hi," Kon responded just as quietly, though not quite as brokenly as Tim had. "How are you?"

"Tired," Tim answered automatically, shifting in his seat, before continuing on a couple of seconds later. "Little sad, too."

"Sad?" Kon questioned, and Tim finally looked up at him. His eyes were big and sad and his face was sad, too, but it was also open and honest and trusting, and that made Kon's heart ache more than any of the rest of it had. "Why are you sad?"

"Don't know," Tim shook his head a little bit, even though Kon knew he knew perfectly well why he was sad. "Just am."

"Well, I'm sorry," Kon frowned down at the love of his life, rubbing their arms against each other comfortingly.

"Don't be," Tim's eyes fell to hands again before flicking back up a couple of seconds later. "It's not your fault."

"Still," Kon murmured before leaning down to press his lips against Tim's in a soft and chaste, but still deep and loving kiss. Tim made the tiniest noise of surprise and froze for a just a fraction of a second before Kon felt Tim's fingers brush across his chest as Tim sunk into the kiss. Kon took advantage of Tim's acceptance of closeness to snake his arm back around the man's shoulders to shift him even closer before pulling back enough to look at him. "'m sorry."

"Thank you, Kon," Tim held his gaze, the corners of his mouth pulling up in just the smallest of smiles. "I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Kon reassures him before leaning back down to capture his lips in a series of kisses again. They're just as soft and reassuring as the first one had been, and Tim was more thankful for them than he could ever put into words. So, instead of trying, Tim threaded his fingers up into the wrinkles of Kon's t-shirt and lets his teeth gently close over Kon's bottom lip when they can.

Kon takes the gestures for what they are, and he's more than happy to let Tim relax against his side for a couple of minutes before he pulls away again at the insistence of the little voice in the back of his head that reminded him that Tim had to breathe.

"How about we get out of here, Tim?" Kon whispers against Tim's lips, knocking their foreheads together gently. "Head home and get some take out from that place you like that sells Chinese food and tacos on the way? We can camp out on the couch with some Harry Potter movies while we're at it…and I can draw you up a nice warm bath for after we're done, if you'd like…does that sound good to you, love?"

Tim just stares up at Kon for a moment, his eyes still doing that open and trusting thing that sets Kon's stomach alight with all of the butterflies in the world, before his eyelids flutter closed and he's nodding his head, "Yes, Kon. That's good—better than good—perfect even—it's perfect, Kon—please—please, Kon—let's go home."

The words all came out in a tumbled blur, like Tim was having a hard time getting them all out in the right order, and Kon was quick to duck back down and cut him off with another kiss.

"Alright," Kon nodded his head, too, when he pulled away, only to press a kiss to Tim's forehead as he snapped his finger in a silent command for Wolf to get out from under their feet so he could push himself up and off of the table and down to the floor with a semi-loud-ish thump. Wolf circled back around to stand at Kon's side with his tail swishing side-to-side just the tiniest little bit in anticipation as Kon turned to offer a hand to help Tim down from his own seat, "Let's go."

Tim accepted Kon's hand even though he would never in a million years need help getting down from something as low to the ground as a table, and lowered himself to the ground much more gracefully than Kon had. On any other day, Kon might have taken a cheap shot at Tim and his bat-ish ways (which would normally have been followed—if not preceded—by Tim's own cheap shot at Kon and his subtlety that was on par with a freight train), but as it was, he didn't think that now was the right time to be criticizing anything of Tim's—especially something that was as essential to his being as his place amongst the Bat Family—so he let the moment pass with nothing other than a quiet, "You good?", after Tim had gotten his footing back about him.

"Yeah," Tim nodded his head, looking back up at Kon. "I—"

Kon tensed as Tim's eyes focused somewhere beyond his shoulder and his entire body froze, expecting some kind of attack, but then Kon remembered where they were and what had been going on before he'd approached Tim, and he mentally cursed himself and just about everything else he could think of when he started paying attention to more than just the man standing in front of him and realized that the room had somehow—magically (Kon was pretty sure)—gone completely silent around them. Childishly, Kon hoped for a moment that the other occupants of the room had decided to leave while he and Tim were talking and had completely missed everything, but he wasn't surprised when he turned around to find almost the entire League staring at them in shock.

It wasn't exactly that Tim and Kon had been trying to hide their relationship from anyone—everybody knew that they were best friends after all—they just hadn't been going around announcing it either. Tim and Kon were perfectly secure in what they were doing and how they felt about each other, and neither one of them were particularly fond of public displays of affection, so honestly it never really came up.

Most of the League had the good graces to blush and look away at Kon's raised eyebrow that clearly meant, "excuse me, this is a private matter", but some of them kept staring as Kon turned his attention back to Tim.

"Come on, love," Kon squeezed Tim's hand, ignoring the grunts and cut off exclamations coming from behind them as Jason tackled a very excited Dick to the ground and wrestled him into a headlock with a hand over his mouth before he could say anything that would scare Tim off in his current state of emotional turmoil. Tim's eyes lingered over Kon's shoulder for a couple more seconds before he blinked and looked back up at Kon again. "Let's go home."

"Home," Tim agreed with a small nod.


End file.
